Monday, 7 September 2015

Police Deserter Arrested for Extorting Motorists

A 43-year-old former policeman identified as Lawal Akeem has been arrested by policemen attached to the Lagos state police command for impersonation and extortion.Akeem who is in the custody of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Ikeja, is undergoing interrogation over allegations that he left the force but was caught with a fake police identity card which he used to extort money from unsuspected members of the public.

According to the police, the suspect was exposed after a motorist fought with him at Maza Maza area of the state last month.

Officers attached to the Rapid Response Squad who were on patrol duty at Maza Maza arrested Akeem and took him to their office at Alausa but he was later transferred to SARS Ikeja after he confessed that he was a deserter.

Following investigation, the police found a fake police identity card on the suspect bearing his name and rank as a sergeant.

The suspect, however, denied the allegation. He said: “Yes it is true that I deserted from the police but I had to leave work because I am sick. I lost my wife last year when she went to give birth to our third child and since her death,I have been depressed because her death affected my mental health.”

“I was working as a sergeant at the Bonpai Division at Sabon Gari Kano state. I was transferred from Lagos to Kano in 2013 during the heat of Boko Haram but I got a call last Febuary that my wife was was rushed to the hospital to give birth. I took permission and came to Lagos to be with her but sadly she died during child birth.

“I have been depressed and hypertensive since my wife died. I went to the hospital to treat myself but I have been very sick despite all the treatment I received. My family members took me to a traditionalist in Ogun State and I have been going there for treatment. I did not go to my office in Kano to take medical leave. I just stayed away and the authorities stopped my salary.”

On how he got into a fight with the motorist, Akeem said.

” I have two children and I went to visit them in my relatives house at Badagry. That fateful day, I was trying to cross the road at Maza Maza area of the state when the driver hit me with her car. I ran after her and she had to stop because of the gridlock. I told her that she hit me but she started shouting and called me a thief . She came out of her car and tore my cloth and we started fighting. The RRS men came and I introduced myself as a police sergeant. They asked for my identity card and they took me to their station. That identity card was given to me by the police authority. I am sick but I am not a thief.”